Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if gloomy, depressing scores of exotic and orchestral beauty feed your hunger for tragic melodrama, Charlie Mole's first major career score an essential entry in any collection of music for Shakespearian adaptations. Avoid it... if the resounding elegance of deeply brooding film music has no place in your otherwise bright and cheery life. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Othello: (Charlie Mole) For those with a morbid sense of humor, there is reason to embrace William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice." It has all the deceit, betrayal, and sex that one could wish from a tale of interpersonal turmoil. Sent from the Venetian Republic of the 16th Century, its characters spend most of the play in emotional and physical battle on the island of Cyprus. The titular character is a Moorish general in the Venetian army, deployed on his mission to Cyprus to ward off a Turkish threat that was ultimately destroyed by a storm before his forces arrive. While celebrating on the island, a series of events unfolds due to the power struggles and romantic jealousy that exist between several important officers. An ensign (Iago) and a lieutenant (Cassio) both seek higher rank and the former uses his own wife (Emilia) and Othello's wife (Desdemona) in a complicated plot of adultery to benefit his own chances for ascendency despite pretending to be Othello's most loyal officer. As you would expect, the story ends tragically, with unnecessary killings of major characters and bittersweet confessions of love unheeded. The story had been adapted to film six times before the 1995 version by novice director Oliver Parker, but his Othello was noted as being the first major Hollywood adaptation of the concept to appropriately cast a black man in the lead role. Laurence Fishburne had the honor of portraying Othello, and highly acclaimed in his continued presence in the realm of Shakespeare was Kenneth Branagh in the role of Iago. Parker's Othello truncated some lines as necessary for the film, though he also added several scenes of visual importance (sans dialogue), including gratuitous interludes of sex and a somewhat unnecessary burial scene at the end. Regardless of positive critical response, the film suffered during its limited theatrical release and did not come close to recouping its $11 million budget. One of the unexpectedly impressive aspects of Othello is its score, composed by the then completely unknown British songwriter Charlie Mole. First as a member of a band and then as a songwriter for other artists, Mole eventually sought a career in composing music primarily for television, a medium in which he solidified his career in the 2000's. Representing his breakthrough assignment, Othello unfortunately proved to be the arguable pinnacle of his career in feature assignments, Mole never again achieving this level of mainstream recognition on the big screen (despite the film's total failure). This turn of events is something of a tragedy itself, given the quality that he produced for Othello. The tone of Mole's approach to Othello is perfect for the topic, orchestral in foundation and exotic in its instrumental colors, all of which brooding with a sense of morbid romanticism. The orchestra is dominated by low strings, aided in the tender moments by woodwinds and in the fleeting scenes of grandeur by brass. Almost always tonally accessible, the ensemble is joined by a collection of interesting specialty instruments meant clearly to reflect Cyprus and the heritage of Othello. An oud, guitar, shawm, and a variety of percussion and ethnic flutes combine with wailing vocals to address these needs, some of which assembled for the two source-like dance pieces necessary for Mole to finish for use in filming. These tones also darken the ambience as Mole attempts to address the suspense element rather than the straight romance. His application of these specialty sounds is outstanding, interesting and never too foreign, though he largely abandons them as the score progresses. Just as important to the score's success is Mole's set of well-developed thematic ideas, spread satisfyingly throughout the work and supplanting the exotic elements with resounding orchestral performances at the end of the score. The primary theme is vaguely suggested in "Main Title" before receiving two phenomenal, full ensemble renditions in "The Arrival." The layering of the exotic instruments with the orchestra is never better than in "The Arrival," the shawm seemingly used like a descending electric guitar tone. References of solace in "Divinity of Hell" and torment at the end of "The Torret" lead to suspenseful explorations in "The Well" and "Iago's Stabbing." Mole's explosion of force in the highlighting "End Credits" is anchored by extremely melodramatic renditions of this theme as well. A secondary theme of romance is hinted in "The Garden" but formally introduced on oboe in "The Prayer." Its lovely progressions guide the integral performance in "The Willow Song," a stunningly beautiful combination of cast performance and accompanying instrumentals (with the film version transferred to album). The full ensemble uses this theme for the emotional finale in "Burial" and as the conclusion to the suite in "End Credits." A secondary motif of agitation exists for chopping bass strings, heard during the stewing "The Beach" and the vindictive "Go!" before informing the resolute rhythm at the outset of "End Credits." Together, these themes and their initially interesting instrumentation yield a depressingly powerful sonic representation of Othello. The whole is somber, but it soars with magnificence by the last two cues, which, when combined with "The Arrival," yield twelve minutes of essential music for the Shakespearian realm of tragedy. This score remains one of the more compelling hidden gems in the film music community, despite its extremely gloomy demeanor. **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 58:26
All artwork and sound clips from Othello are Copyright © 1995, Varèse Sarabande. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/27/12, updated 2/27/12. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2012-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
